


pieces of a person are a game

by hemothorax



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Gen, Murder, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, adding tags as it goes along, feat detective seungcheol oooo, i tried real hard please like it, mingyu gets poisoned rip, uhh this is a murder mystery i wrote for a class, unrequited meanie oops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 03:02:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13285590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hemothorax/pseuds/hemothorax
Summary: “Did you see Mingyu at all before you discovered his body?”Jisoo's face contorted into one of grief and sorrow, his eyebrows furrowing and deep lines around his mouth as he took breaths to keep a breakdown at bay. He shook a little, his voice tight and high pitched."No. I wish I did. I wish I could have stopped it.”





	1. prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi oh my god okay so quick note before we dive into the first chapter. SO this was made for a school writing prompt and what i currently have of it is a rough draft kind of thing. whats gonna be happening is that right NOW im going to be posting the chapters that are already well written and probably polishing those up a little because i high key rushed the school version of this story. the first two chapters are kinda short, but many other chapters will vary in length because some have lots of backstory and some dont have a ton of backstory. thank you for reading my first attempt at a murder mystery! this was based off the famous sevenscheme and a biology/health class i took last year that worked through the murder of a woman and we had to figure out the murder. thank you !!
> 
> twitter: @hanhaos <3

The bells rang through the entire school, signifying the beginning of passing for students to get to their fifth period class. Many students pushed past their desks, eager to see people in the hallway, or just to get to their next class so school would be over with already. Some to see friends, some to see couples, or just wanted to get to lunch because they were hungry. Jisoo didn’t mind, as school was where he was able to be with his various friends. He also actually enjoyed learning and the subjects offered at his school, contrary to some of his friends who couldn’t wait to graduate and go to college. School was what kept his social live alive, honestly. He wasn't super social during summer, and only going out with his friends when they asked him to (which was actually almost every weekend during summer, but Jisoo just didn't connect the dots).

He hoisted his heavy bag onto his back, slinging both straps around his arms and letting the bag hang off his shoulders. He weaved his way through the crowd of kids, passing a few couples on the sides of the hallways and tried not to gag at them before reaching his next class less than a minute later. A few kids were already seated at their desks, getting notebooks and pencils out as requested by the teacher’s writing on the whiteboard, various lab equipment being scattered around the counters of the chemistry classroom.

“Shua, is Mingyu still in the music class?”

Jisoo turned around and faced his long-time friend Wonwoo. He was tall and a bit lanky, sporting a built jaw with hooded eyes, and overall reminded the other of a doberman. He was currently looking sick and constipated, hives a little all over his body. Jisoo simply shrugged, setting his backpack down and starting to unzip it for his lab journal and pencil pouch.

“Dunno, I didn’t visit him at lunch. I’d assume he is, he’s really worked up about that music project with Jihoon.”

Wonwoo hummed, nodding and making his way over to his own table behind Jisoo, waiting for a note from the office so he could leave school and go home. He had said something caused an allergic reaction, maybe something in the other science classrooms. More time passed, and soon the one minute warning bell went off, and Jisoo started to worry a little bit. Mingyu was a punctual person, and he would have told him if he was skipping class today, especially since they both knew there was a lab. Jisoo passed it off easily as Mingyu being too immersed in his own work. It wouldn’t bother Jisoo, as long as he got to class before they started the lab they were doing that day.

The clock hit 12:35 PM and the bells went off once again, signalling that any students in the hallway were late to their class. Jisoo sighed, flipping his notebook open to a new page as the teacher started speaking, creating a new entry in his journal for the day. Time slowly ticked by, his eyes gravitating towards the big LED clock above the door every minute or so. A note came for Wonwoo around 12:40, and he started to make his way out the classroom, leaving Soonyoung, his partner, to partner up with him if Mingyu didn’t show up. It seemed to take an eternity for the teacher to stop talking and order them to put on lab safety equipment. At that time, it had just turned 12:44, and Jisoo stood from his desk to talk to Mr. Kim instead of finding himself gloves and goggles.

“Mr. Kim, can I go get Mingyu from the music room? I think he’s still there.”

Mr. Kim only spared a glance at Jisoo before nodding and going back to his laptop, letting him off the hook. Jisoo was quick to grab the pass before exiting the classroom. He played a little game on his phone as he took a memorized route to the music classroom, needing to step outside into the winter air to make his journey quicker. He shivered, regretting not taking his coat with him as he trudged through the snow starting to layer on the ground again, shoving his phone back into his pocket and hugging himself for warmth. The school doors closed behind him rather loudly, making him jump (even if he had heard it slam more times than he can count since he's been to this school), and he navigated his way to the outside classroom where Mingyu often resided in during his free period. Luckily the walk was short, but Jisoo was still freezing once he reached the building, shaking snow off his shoes before opening the door.

“Mingyu, c’mon, we have a lab today,” Joshua called into the class, his voice echoing back as he walked in.

The room was abnormally cold, and he stepped through the door and let it swing shut behind him, blocking out most of the cold air from outside. He walked so he could actually see inside the classroom, with hands shoved in his pockets for warmth. Jisoo looked to the corner of the classroom, the other door without a handle on the outside was propped open; it was open so little that no light escaped through it, but a breeze was coming in through the minuscule crack.

As Jisoo stepped closer, his heart lurched inside his chest and he nearly tripped over some chairs as he ran towards Mingyu.

"Mingyu, Mingyu?" Jisoo wailed, his throat choking his vocal chords as he spoke to his friend, laying on the floor, "Goddamnit, Mingyu! Wake up, Gyu!"

He collapsed to his knees, tears welling in his eyes at the deathly cold skin of his friend. He flipped him over the best as he could, pressing his index and middle finger to the junction of his jaw to feel for a pulse, but there was none. His eyes stung sharply, his vision becoming blurry as he let out a cry. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't, it was impossible. This kind of thing only happens in TV shows or in books.

"Mingyu, c'mon, no. Mingyu, Mingyu, no no no no."

He struggled to call emergency services, rushing out sobs to the technician that were barely coherent until he was on the verge of an anxiety attack from waiting for so long. Jisoo waited by the body, his fingers going back to that one part on his neck every few seconds just to check if he had a pulse still. He places his palms on his chest, pressing down and trying to do CPR on him, trying to bring him back somehow. Through his tears and his ragged breaths, he continued to try everything he could, trying to get his heart beating again. Jisoo's breathing became heavy and his head started to feel fuzzy as he struggled to control his breaths, everything becoming too much all at once. His senses were dulled and he just wanted to hear a heartbeat or hear a gasp of air from his throat.

None of it really felt real. He wanted this to be fake, wanted it to be a sick joke, wanted to wake up or snap out of whatever twisted, demented daydream he was having. It was right in front of him, yet the bricks had yet to fully hit him, the realization kept being pushed back as Jisoo could only hope. It was a dream, right? It was all a dream. It didn't feel real. It was fake, right? He was trying to comprehend it as he felt his emotions going numb, hearing the sirens pulling into the school parking lot. He knew he wasn’t supposed to call 911 without telling a teacher at the least, but he didn't have a choice.

The door swung open, paramedics running in and detectives on the scene as well. All in a flash, there were people all around him, but he didn't pay any attention. His hands and body were working on auto pilot, he kept putting pressure on the taller's chest, hoping for some sort of gasp of breath, some sort of sign he was still alive. He felt hands on his shoulder, a voice telling him to get off him, but he couldn't. He had to save him, he had to come back.

"Hey, move, we need-"

"No! No, stop, I need to save him!"

Jisoo cried out, and the hands became rougher with him as he was yanked off his friends body, shouting words in mixed languages that nobody could really decipher. He struggled against the grip of the hands, watching the paramedics check for a pulse before shaking their heads, standing up to let other services work.

"What.. What are you doing?! You're supposed to save him! He's dying! Why aren't you doing anything, SAVE MY FRIEND!"

He couldn't gain anymore composure, the paramedics ignoring the screaming teenager to put a sheet over his friends body. Jisoo didn't know how long he wailed for, but he eventually was let go of to let him collapse on the floor. He sobbed into his hands, watching paramedics slowly leave the scene to call investigators

“Kid, hey, kid.”

A calming voice came from a guy who just stepped into the cramped classroom. He had deep brown puppy-like eyes with a soft yet chiseled face, and looked no older than 22. Jisoo didn’t have the energy to respond vocally at the moment, so he simply blinked and looked up into his eyes, hoping he’d get the message. He didn’t expect to be brought into a hug from the guy, or for him to open his investigator coat and let him warm up a little, but he was anyway. The dam behind his eyes broke, and he let himself break inside the mans comforting embrace. Mingyu was gone.


	2. hong jisoo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi oh my god okay so quick note before we dive into the first chapter. SO this was made for a school writing prompt and what i currently have of it is a rough draft kind of thing. whats gonna be happening is that right NOW im going to be posting the chapters that are already well written and probably polishing those up a little because i high key rushed the school version of this story. the first two chapters are kinda short, but many other chapters will vary in length because some have lots of backstory and some dont have a ton of backstory. thank you for reading my first attempt at a murder mystery! this was based off the famous sevenscheme and a biology/health class i took last year that worked through the murder of a woman and we had to figure out the murder. thank you !!
> 
> twitter: @hanhaos <3

 

 

 **Victim:** Kim Mingyu

**Age:** 18

**D.O.B:** April 6, 2000

**Sex:** M

**Cause of death:** Suffocation induced by allergic reaction

**Manner of death:** Homicide

**Time of death:** Estimated around 11:40 AM 14/12/17

**Body discovered:**  Emergency call made by Hong Jisoo at 12:52 PM 14/12/17

 

**Corner’s notes:** Victim was found in the music portable by Joshua Hong around 12:47 PM on December 14th, 2017. Body was abnormally cold due to a door being slightly ajar after death. Large traces of penicillin found in stomach and vomit near victim’s body. Throat and tongue were severely swollen and raw. Several remains of food found in stomach (cereal, school lunch burger, taco containing penicillin). Hives were on skin from allergic reaction. Victim most likely went into anaphylactic shock immediately after consuming penicillin. Death occurred most likely between 2-5 minutes after ingesting penicillin. Roughly 2 CC's of penicillin found in victims vomit and body. _Foul play is suspected._

 

**CSI Notes:** Body was found laying face first on carpet next to vomit and with hand holding a back door just barely open. Victims belongings were by a piano on the other side of the room along with a mostly-eaten taco and containers that held victim’s food. No traces of penicillin were found with victim or on clothes except for hands and mouth when he ate the food with penicillin in it. Remains of the taco was found with penicillin in it. Several other students fingerprints found on piano, suspects are his closest friends. Inclosed is a list of students that could be potential suspects.

 

**Victims school schedule:**

Culinary 2 (8:00 - 8:55)

Advanced Algebra (9:00 - 9:55)

Honors English (10:00 - 10:55)

NA/FREE PER. (11:00 - 12:00)

Lunch (12:00 - 12:30)

Chemistry 1 (12:35 - 1:30)

English 2 (1:35 - 2:30)

 

Seungcheol sighed, reading over the paper and wishing it was easier to understand. He’s fresh out of college and finally landed his first big solo case. His first set of investigations without someone behind the glass and mentoring him. There were other interns watching him this time, and he was the advanced one. It was all still slightly confusing to him, but it's his big chance at proving himself to be a good detective. Seungcheol was determined to do well on this case, determined to find the killer to this poor teenager.

“Choi, you’re up soon. Jisoo is waiting for you in the room.”

His boss tapped the walls of his office for emphasis before leaving, letting Seungcheol wrap up his briefing of the case and putting the papers and pictures back where they belonged inside the yellow paper file. It closed along with other files of students that were potential suspects. His heart hurt for them, losing a friend at such a young age, and knowing it was murder as well. He sighed to himself, holding the folder with him as he pushed the chair back and stood up from it, walking around his desk and to the door of his office to make his way to the interrogation room. Jisoo seemed rather shaken up about the entire thing once he got there, his eyes red around the edges and slightly puffy, staring down at the metal desk that would be between them once he sat down across from the kid. He slowly opened the door, making his way in and catching the attention of the school boy.

“Jisoo?” He asked, closing the door behind him and attempting to make a kind greeting, “Hey, kid, I’m Detective Choi, but you can call me Seungcheol.”

Jisoo cocked his head to the side, the gears in his head moving a little slower than they usually would be, “Are you new?”

Seungcheol nodded and let a soft moment of silence pass between them before leaning forward and setting the yellow file on the corner of the desk.

“I heard you found your friend’s body.. I’m very sorry, Jisoo.”

Jisoo let out a choked noise, trapping it in his throat from actually being at its full potential. Seungcheol stayed quiet, letting the boy gather a little composure before starting to speak more.

“How did you find him? If you’re comfortable with telling me right now, please do.”

A shaky intake of breath was heard from the younger, nodding and speaking with a small voice.

“We… we’re classmates and, uh, we’re partners in my chemistry class. He- he was late for class and I went to find him… and then I found him like that…”

I nodded, jotting down notes quietly and motioning for him to elaborate, hoping that he’d get the message within his messy mind. 

“He.. uh, he was in the music room because he was working on a music project with our friend Jihoon. He likes to make music a lot, and-and Mingyu was writing lyrics to use. I, um, Jihoon recently got mad at him because Mingyu wanted to go a different path with the music and… they had a pretty big argument and it kinda tore our friend group apart. He likes sitting in the music room to cool off…. I just, I don't know who could have done this. Even if Jihoon and Mingyu were really mad at each other… Hoonie isn’t that kind of guy.”

Jisoo was letting tears slowly roll down his skin as he talked, his voice cracking every once in awhile. He was messing with his hands, unclenching and clenching to try and keep himself calm while he talked. Seungcheol nodded, humming to show he was paying attention while writing.

“Did you see Mingyu at all before you discovered his body?”

Jisoo's face contorted into one of grief and sorrow, his eyebrows furrowing and deep lines around his mouth as he took breaths to keep a breakdown at bay. He shook a little, his voice tight and high pitched.

“No. I wish I did. I wish I could have stopped it. I even tried CPR.”

Seungcheol nodded again, pursing his lips together as he read Jisoo's face for anything. The boy was truly torn up inside, unable to properly put words and feelings together for now. He could only regurgitate what he knew already.

“Alright, kid. I’ll let you go, do you have a parent waiting for you to drive home?”

“Yeah… my mom is waiting in the parking lot.” Jisoo looks about ready to sprint out of the room as he talks, and Seungcheol senses it quickly.

“Don’t worry. We’ll find who did this, okay? I’ll do my absolute best.”

Jisoo makes a noise in the back of his throat, lifting his hands to cover his mouth and letting more tears pour from his eyes. He didn’t have the capability of saying thank you, but he nods and Seungcheol gets the message from him. Both of them stand up, Seungcheol standing first, and he leads Jisoo out to the front of the building with a hand on his shoulder. He walks to a cream-yellow vehicle parked in the second row, curling himself into a ball in the front seat as his mom takes off driving out of the parking lot and probably to home.

Seungcheol watches with a heavy heart, turning to walk back inside and gather his notes together. He had more information now, and another suspect on the list: Jihoon. Jisoo had nothing against him, no possible way, to see Mingyu and poison him with a taco that he made in school. He really didn’t have much to work with at this point, but he could finally cross off someone on his suspect list and get to the next one after filing the evidence given. 


	3. jeon wonwoo

“Oh yeah, they’re over there, their project is missing.” Seungkwan said from behind him, gesturing to two students with grave looks on their faces as he gossiped to Jihoon instead of doing their math work.

“Kwannie, I don’t care. It sucks for them but, do your work, dude.” Jihoon mumbled, but it didn’t deter Seungkwan at all, instead it prompted a small chuckle from the younger boy.

“Wonwoo!” His teacher called, scanning the classroom for the black haired, lanky male.

Wonwoo looked up from where he was sitting, pausing his history work to stand up and head towards his teacher.

“You’re leaving, pack up.” She handed him a pink slip of paper, the writing telling him to head to the attendance office immediately.

“Oh.. okay.”

Wonwoo took the paper and walked back to his seat, starting to put his things away and walking out the classroom with a small wave to Jihoon and Seungkwan while heading out. He shoved his hands in his pocket, furrowing his brows as he walked, thinking of a possible reason to be picked up early from school- especially so early in second period. Dentist appointment? Possibly, he can’t really remember when he last got the teeth cleaning from his dentist. But his mom would have informed him beforehand, and not just picked him up.

Wonwoo reached the attendance office, his mother looking stone faced and stern as she nodded for him to follow. His anxiety reached his throat, threatening to spill bile into his mouth as he started to feel sick from any possible way he could be in  _ this _ much trouble. He followed silently behind his mom, getting in the car and setting his backpack by his feet.

“You have a meeting with detective Choi at the police station.”

“I what?”

His mom turned to look at him once the car was turned on, “Meeting with a detective, detective Choi, about…” her face grew sullen for a moment, “...Mingyu.”

Wonwoo understood now, the anxiety turning into a strange heavy feeling in his chest and behind his eyes as he stared down at his backpack, buckling the seat belt. The two of them were silent through the entire car ride, the only noise being their breathing, the engine, and the pop music playing at an almost unhearable volume from the radio. The entire car ride was just Wonwoo staring at his backpack and mentally preparing himself for the interview he was about to receive, the interrogation and the questions he would get.

The police station stood in front of him much quicker than he had anticipated, and he was soon forcing his hands to unbuckle the seat belt so he could make his way to the front desk. His steps were slow and a bit unsteady when he walked up the steps, his mom turning the engine of the car off behind him. The snow beneath his shoes crunched, sticking to the bottoms of his shoes and he was only reminded of how much Mingyu loved the snow and loved playing in it, even if he was 18. The boy was an overgrown puppy and he couldn’t help but smile at some memories.

Wonwoo's body moved without his mind, opening the doors and kicking the snow off his shoes as he made his way to the front desk.

“Are you filing a complaint?” The lady sitting behind the computer looked up briefly, scanning his scrawny figure hidden beneath a parka. 

Wonwoo shook his head, black scruffy hair falling into his face as he did so.

“I have an interview. Interrogation. Uh, with, um, detective Choi.”

Her face didn’t display any other emotion other than something that read as ‘busy desk lady that doesn’t get paid enough for her job’ as she hummed, tapping at her computer for a moment before speaking up.

“State your name and birthday.”

“Jeon Wonwoo, July 17th, 1999.”

She nodded again, clicking a few things before nodding to a few waiting chairs.

“Wait there, someone will come and lead you to the interrogation room where you’ll wait for Choi.”

He nodded, making his way over and sitting in the wooden, uncomfortable chairs. Luckily his puffy parka comforted him, but only physically. He was running around inside his head trying to tame and tie down his thoughts, but they kept getting faster the more his brain spun around trying to gather them all into one folder. It was deemed impossible after being left alone with nothing but the background talking of other people and his mind. Wonwoo didn’t want to be on his phone right now, he didn’t want to waste his battery and was saving all the pent up emotions for later. He was too scared that if he opened his phone, he would text Mingyu's phone, in some hope that he’d respond and it was some fucked up dream, or demented prank his friends pulled on him. Wonwoo probably wouldn’t forgive him or any of his friends for at least a month or so, but he would eventually, and he wished that that was the case whenever he was alone in his own head. 

_ “Wonwoo, heads up!” _

_ Wonwoo automatically looked towards the source of his voice, his mind failing to catch up to his body as he realized it was a snowball ambush to the chest. He got hit straight on, the contagious laugh of the thrower echoing around the snow covered park as Wonwoo stumbled back a little. He really couldn’t help it, but he laughed along with Mingyu, the tall boy jogging over, leaving a trail behind him. He grinned his signature snaggle toothed, big puppy grin that showed off all his teeth. His eyes turned into crescents, making them smiles as well, and his cheeks got little lines in them, temporarily marking his beautifully tanned skin. _

_ “Thanks a lot, Mingyu, you’re so lucky that I always have this thing on.” Wonwoo mumbled, pretending to be mad at the large puppy. _

_ He heard him whine, and Wonwoo's heart leapt a little and he couldn’t help the small smile fighting its way onto his face. _

_ “Ah, Hyung! You can’t just be mad at me over that! You love me!” _

_ His cheeks flushed slightly, his heart skipping a beat, and pounding right into his ribs right after for a few more beats. He turned back around, seeing an adorably exaggerated pout tainting his handsome face. He was ethereal either way, no matter how sleep deprived, caffeine induced, overexcited, or anything else, Mingyu was always so beautiful to Wonwoo. _

_ “You little brat, you can’t pull that on me.” Wonwoo laughed, a domino effect that caused Mingyu to smile and giggle right back. _

_ Mingyu trotted away from Wonwoo , going towards the big tire swing and hoisting himself on it, even if he was well past the weight and height requirements for it. He was 6’1, a muscular teenage boy with more energy than he had ever seen anybody have except for their new addition to the friend group, Soonyoung. He whined once again at Wonwoo, begging the elder to push him on the swing he was now seated on. It was almost an instinct at this point to cave in to Mingyu's demands. Wonwoo knew he was wrapped around Mingyu's pinkie, but the latter had no idea. _

_ “Whatever, you owe me some of your mom’s hot chocolate after this. And those fruity candy canes.” _

_ Mingyu made a face, his nose scrunching up and mouth pulling into a lopsided frown, “How do people even like those fruit demon canes? They’re an insult to Christmas.” _

_ “They’re delicious, I will happily eat all of them that the world has to offer.” _

_ The younger made a belching sound, wriggling in the tire swing, two gloved hands holding on to the chains that held it onto the metal post. _

_ “Hyung! Swing me around because you love me!” _

_ His heart did the thing again, stopping and then hammering for a few beats, then going back to normal but the heartbeat echoing into his ears for a little longer. _

_ “Yeah yeah, whatever, hold on you spoiled brat.” _

_ Wonwoo grabbed two of the chains that held onto the tire swing, pulling it back along with Mingyu, who was giggling in anticipation of getting dizzy and falling into the snow. Once the tire swing was pulled back as far as the older could get it with his strength, he pushed it forward and made a hard spin to it, quickly diving out of the way and nearly falling face first. He heard the high pitched squeals that nobody but Wonwoo knew he could make, the squeals dissolving into laughter as he pulled his body closer to the center of the tire swing to make it move faster. _

_ He was so pretty and carefree. He didn’t have that sag and stiffness in his shoulders like he usually did during school. He didn’t have a genuine frown on his face or the worry lines beside his eyes. He looked happy, the snow falling all around him, the tuft of hair peeking out from his snow hat, laughing loudly with his tongue sticking out just a little. Mingyu was an angel, but it seemed so, so devastatingly unfortunate that a year later he would be wanted back by whatever brought him to this earth in the first place. _

“Jeon Wonwoo?”

An unfamiliar voice yanked him from the memories that clouded his mind. Unable to properly register anything inside the fog that was clearing up, he dumbly nodded his head and stood up. A stocky man gestured for him to follow, and Wonwoo simply did as told and followed behind the man, his hands still shoved in his parka. He was lead to a metal detector, putting his phone and earphones in the metal tray so he could step through, making it past without any beeping. He still wasn’t completely back from the previous thoughts as he was asked to put his phone on ‘do not disturb’ mode before having them being temporarily confiscated by the man he had been following. Wonwoo was being told to sit in a metal fold chair in front of a metal desk inside a room with a one-way window, the mirror portion of the window facing him. He knew there were most likely people standing behind that mirror, staring at him and analyzing him for any clue of lying, or withholding information.

“Wonwoo?” Another voice broke him from the clutches of his own thoughts, a softer and slightly deeper voice than the previous.

The student looked up to the man that was standing in the doorway of the interrogation room, finding a muscular man in his early-mid twenties with no stubble and a dog-like face that reminded him of a labrador. He gave a gummy smile, his mouth curving into the shape of almost an oval, and closed the door behind him.

“I’m detective Choi, but you can call me Seungcheol if you’d like.”

The man- Seungcheol -sat across the table from him in an identical metal fold chair with two files, a notepad, and a pen for writing notes. Wonwoo simply nodded, not finding the motivation within him to speak until he was asked actual questions.

“So, uh…” Seungcheol looked into his case file, reading what little information they had on Wonwoo, “You’re a year older than Mingyu, yes?”

Wonwoo stiffened a little, giving a nod in response, and Seungcheol took the answer with gratitude.

“You were very close with him, I’d assume?”

Wonwoo nodded again, willing that stinging, heavy feeling behind his eyes to go away.

“...How close to him were you?”

Seungcheol asked it softly, hesitantly, as if he were trying to befriend a wild hyena.

Wonwoo choked on his breath, the stinging feeling moving forward as he closed his eyes and tried to stop the salty water from falling down his face.

“Very.”

It was all he managed to get out without collapsing into a human pile of heart-wrenching sobs that would echo through the entire room. Wonwoo was surprised his body was still producing tears, after the two days he had to himself. His pillow soaked and his hair messy and untamed, his wardrobe untouched as he laid in bed with the same exact pair of sweats and shirt he was wearing right now, but with a little febreze sprayed onto himself.

Seungcheol nodded, seeming to understand the context in which Wonwoo said the single word, writing down notes and allowing the younger to collect his thoughts and stop the watering of his eyes.

“Are you okay to continue, Wonwoo?”

It took a few moments for it to register, and he briefly contemplated saying no and letting himself get the time to sob in the bathrooms. But Wonwoo didn’t want that. Wonwoo wanted this to be over, he wanted to catch the sociopath that ripped his happiness away, that tore it to shreds and left it lying on the floor to rot, tearing apart the entire friend circle and ruining what they once had. He wanted to find the sick criminal that ruined him, made him lose one of the main things he really had going. He had to finish and get it all out for Mingyu, because Wonwoo could live in some semblance of peace knowing they could catch the person who murdered the man he never got to confess to.

“Yes.”

Seungcheol just nodded, sighing softly, “What were you doing the day of the murder?”

Wynter wracked his brain for thoughts, trying to collect them into an order that would be easy for Seungcheol to understand and put together.

“Well.. I got to school at 7:50, I ride the later bus, and.. I had my first class, Biology. And.. after that, I had my History class. It’s all classes until my lunch break. I visit..” Wonwoo swallowed a lump in his throat, letting out a shaky sigh, “I visited Mingyu during my lunch, which is lunch B. It’s.. It’s between 11:30 and 12:00. I didn’t stay long though.. My friend, Minghao, wanted to actually get lunch after visiting Mingyu. We only stayed for about five minutes.. And we left before Mingyu.. Mingyu died.”

Seungcheol was writing in his notepad, listening to every word that Wonwoo was saying, and he paused to collect his thoughts, letting the tears well up and his voice shake, but continuing on despite the sharp pain he felt in his chest just talking about the last time he ever saw Mingyu alive.

“I.. I saw him eating his lunch. And.. Minghao wanted to see him. They were going to talk about- about the music that he was writing. I talked with Mingyu… and he let me eat a little bit of his culinary taco. It.. it was kind of gross,” Wonwoo laughed, not bothering to wipe the tear that fell down his cheek, “He had been saving it since first period, because that's his culinary. It was cold and tasted weird, too. I thought Wonwoo had his partner cook the ingredients. I only took a small bite.. I didn’t realize it was penicillin..”

Seungcheol looked up with a quizzical look on his face, “How did you know it was penicillin later?”

“I left school early. I’m mildly allergic to penicillin, and I started to break out in hives near the end of lunch. I left right before the ambulances showed up at school. My mom and I saw them..” Wonwoo sniffled and wiped his eyes to rid of the tears, his sleeves becoming damp in two spots.

“How do you know it was only penicillin? Not anything else?”

“I’m only allergic to penicillin. It’s the only thing that causes that kind of reaction to me.”

Seungcheol nodded, writing that down and looking back at Wonwoo.

“So.. you left school after Mingyu had died?”

Wonwoo nodded, letting out a broken and shaky breath, “I.. I didn’t know he was gone.. I have him in Chemistry.. I left before Jisoo went to go find him because my mom had arrived.”

Seungcheol wrote that down as well, waiting patiently for Wonwoo to calm down a little. He had started to breathe quickly, his breaths becoming shallow and quick, a tell tale sign of an anxiety attack.

“Does your school have records of you leaving?” Seungcheol asked once he was sure Wonwoo was stable enough to answer.

He only nodded, no speaking, and Seungcheol sighed.

“You mentioned a friend, what’s his name again?”

“Minghao. Xu Minghao. He’s a chinese student that moved here last year.”

Wonwoo watched the quick writing of the detective’s hand, waiting for another question to be shot at him.

“Was there anything unusual about anybody in particular, or just about that day in general?”

He had to stop and think, trying so hard to recall what happened that day before he went home. It was just another day until the news was brought to him, and it was all blurry between the lines.

“Not really… nothing besides the penicillin in the school taco. And.. and Minghao tagging along, I guess, but he does that sometimes. It wasn’t super unusual for me, but I usually stay the entire lunch period in that music room with Mingyu.”

Wonwoo's voice quieted down to a mere whisper, remembering everything and nothing at the same time. His mind was playing tricks on him, and he couldn’t grab a hold of anything again. It was all thrown astrew while he tried for anything else, and he didn’t realize he couldn’t see because of the tears blocking his vision until there was a soft pat on the back from Seungcheol.

“Hey, you’ve done more than enough, okay? Let's get you back. I’ll write you a note to get you excused from school for a few days. You obviously haven’t had enough time to mourn your boyfriend.”

_ I wish he was my boyfriend.. _

There were a few scribbles on another page of the notepad that the detective was writing in, and a paper handed to him. Mindlessly, he stood up and walked out, his eyes red and puffed, his phone and earphones being handed to him and shoved into his pocket by what felt like a phantom hand, but was actually his. He didn’t know how to really feel, didn’t know why, either. He should be angry, right? Or sad? Or should he just be mourning? Wonwoo didn’t know. He felt so lost, so turned around and stuck in whatever crazy maze he was currently in. He just wanted sleep, because maybe he would wake up from this nightmare.


End file.
